Posts Tagged ‘wargames’

Oops, I did it again

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

That’s right.  Black Friday got me again.  I’d gone nearly the whole day until I happened upon a blog that mentioned the MMP Black Friday sale around 10:30 pm.  A sucker for MMP sales, I discovered that they were offering Valor of the Guards at a nice discount.  Now yes, I know I haven’t played Advanced Squad Leader since my youngest was born, but I just love the system.  I know I’ve forgotten more of the rules than I actually learned, but I just get all tingly thinking about the counters and kick-ass maps.  I know that I’ve never clipped any of my ASL counters, but that didn’t stop me from buying A Bridge to Far 3 years ago and Pegasus Bridge the year before that (most likely from one of their Black Friday sales).

I want to relearn the system and get back into playing.  I don’t know how active the community is anymore.  I used to follow the ASL mailing list which was always quite active, but I haven’t checked on its existence in quite some time.  I know this is a pipe dream for me to get back into the system, considering all my side projects I’ve been in and out of and those I haven’t even started.  But nephew #4 has shown interest in it in the past and I have resolved to introduce him to the system.

Valor of the Guards really struck a cord for me because I was always interested in Red Barricades but it was out of print by the time I got into things.  VotG has the same sort of rubble strewn map of Stalingrad, but there’s no giant multi hex factories with interior building hexes.  2 beautiful map sheets come in the box which make for a massive city battleground.  5(!) sheets of counters, special rules, campaign games, and a bunch of scenarios.  Looks like some nice infantry only scenarios in there, so that may make getting some counters on the map a little more likely, if I can wade back into the rules.

To address a glut of unclipped ASL counters, a plethora of other unclipped wargames, and to prevent any further shoddy clipping on my part, I have ordered the C4 Counter Cutter.  So, I may be able to do some accelerated clipping over my Christmas vacation.

Only 8 more days of work and I’m done for the year.  I’m really getting stoked about that.

On this day…

  • 2008: Stories of the Day — Proof that there’s still hit internet sites just waiting to be coded.  Is it me or is the only way [...]

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Long road to

Friday, September 4th, 2009

Here I am on the eve of possibly the only (or one of the few) game days I’ll have this year, and I’m sorely unprepared.  Usually, I’m cramming and refreshing on rules systems for the entirety of the prior week.  This week, I’ve pretty much looked at none.

I’ve been staying up too late already this week leading up to Saturday and am starting to drag.  Add in the normal late nights that gaming usually means for me (plus the fact that #4 and I may tackle A Victory Denied tonight) and this makes for a dangerous cocktail.

See you on the other side.

I never realize how dull my razor is until I start using a new one…

On this day…

  • 2007: Girlywogs — My little soccer star scored 3 goals tonight. And she played “Lord of the Dance” quite beautifully on the [...]

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Shelving Guadalara (for now) and AVL

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

After Nephew#4 and I finished our last game of A Victory Lost last January, we thought maybe we’d give Guadalajara a try.  (That’s a lot of a’s.)  I made a few attempts at the rulebook and thought things a bit convaluted.  After reading this, I think it’s safe to say I’m not investing the time in it.  There’s too many other games with less complexity that we can play during our next wargame bash.  Another go of AVL would be fine or I heard from MMP that A Victory Denied is shipping.  Very excited about that one!

I don’t think I ever got into the outcome of #4 and my last AVL game.  If you’ll recall I was leading by a point with two turns left.  I screwed up 1st Panzer across the river and lost Rostov in the process.  The actual events are fuzzy after such a time.  But I was able to keep him from taking any more cities.  He did take the lead in VP, I can’t remember if he bagged some armor or infantry.  I was able to get back within 1VP by cutting off some of his armor up near Karkhov.  Things looked bleak as he part of his push had been finally getting across the river between Krasnyi-Luch and Taganrog to put pressure on Stalino.  One of my armor units paid the price in the impressive offensive that #4 used to get across.

This one came down to the final chit pull.  It was a Manstein chit so I activated my Stalino area units.  The river crossing left him with two armor units a little further forward then his supporting infantry.  I banged my head trying to figure out how to cut these off and squeak out the victory.  The interlocking ZOC’s were making the movement cost too much for me.

But then the brain fog cleared.  I moved units all around the offending armor units.  The only supply path now was directly back through one hex.  As my final act, I attacked an adjacent infantry to his armor.  The odds made it impossible to not at least cause a retreat.  With that unit out of the way, I was able to exploit with my armor the two needed hexes and put both of his armor out of supply to end the game, winning by 1VP.

A fun and great game, I’d play it at the drop of a hat.  I’d say our bonehead mistakes probably equaled out in this one.  It was almost sad there had to be a loser.  :)  #4 was much more aggressive than our first play and I think we were correct on most of the rules.  I’m looking forward to my chance to play this as the Russians.

On this day…

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Estimated delivery date: Friday October 10th

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Okay, time to come clean.  As eluded to in an earlier comment, I’ve made an OCS purchase.  So I’m committed to learning the rules.  I’m close to half through the regular rules and I have to admit, I like what I’m reading.  Yeah, it’s gonna take me a while until these things are second nature to me (this is a complex system and I’m probably displacing other wargame rules in my brain :( ), but I really like the rules.  There are things that just make sense to me and I really like the designer’s notes sprinkled through the rules to give rationalization to things.  Most of these I’ve guessed at before reading.

I screwed up though.  I found Tunisia a few weeks ago for a real nice price but kept mulling over it.  Last week I went back to the site and it was gone.  In panic I found it only on one more site and decided that I needed to act swiftly.

I threw in a few more games while I was at it.  So last I knew, the following games are barreling their way through Texas at the moment:

  • Tunisia – the OCS title that seems to be the best intro to OCS for the money
  • Afrika – another SCS title.  I love The Mighty Endeavor and have preached my love for the simplicity of SCS.  So I thought I should probably own another title in the series.
  • Zooloretto – this game has been on my wish list and seems like it might be a nice family game that even the youngest girlywog will enjoy.  The zoo theme should help.

Additionally, on backorder/preorder is Pandemic.  I’ve heard good things about this game and it will be my first cooperative game.  This is another that I hope the family will like since we can all work together to save the world.

So I’ll continue to trudge my way through the OCS series rules.  Don’t know at what point I should ask Shindo to begin my tutelage.

ONE DAY UNTIL THE RED WINGS RAISE THE STANLEY CUP BANNER AND KICK OFF THE SEASON!!!!!!!

On this day…

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Posted in Family, Gaming | 1 Comment »

AVL – End of Game

Friday, December 28th, 2007

The city defenses of Kharkov were never touched as the exterior defenders could not be moved.  A last ditch attempt to encircle and cut off supply from Kharkov and Rostov also failed to have the length needed.  Ending in a German victory.

Final VP’s: German 25 Russian 11

FloydWing’s Final Thoughts:  I feel lucky to have held out.  Our messing up some of the rules at the beginning (namely that only Russian mechanized units were worth VPs) probably added to the German ability to hold on.  Another turn or more and I would have been in serious trouble.  Saving my MOT and TOT saved the day.

Nephew #4’s Final Thoughts:   Our initial VP mess up made me too tentative at the beginning.  The Germans through up a good defense.  I didn’t even think I’d get close to Rostov.  Once again, throwing 1’s and 2’s at Kharkov makes it hard to win.  Also, never getting the command chits pulled when needed like the German was getting really stunk.

On this day…

  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 8 — A lot of grinding of armies near Kharkov.  Lines starting to be stretched the length of the map.  A full [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 7 — Donets River near Kharkov starting to be crossed by Russians, though stiff German resistance is present.  Russians near the southern [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 6 — Kharkov has been fortified, appears tight though battle will surely follow along the river.  Southern Donets River defenses are holding [...]
  • 2005: Things — I finally got around to seeing Serenity last night and all I can say is “WOW”. I really enjoyed [...]

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AVL – End of Turn 8

Friday, December 28th, 2007

A lot of grinding of armies near Kharkov.  Lines starting to be stretched the length of the map.  A full last ditch push from the Russians is underway.

VPs: Germans 25 Russians 10

FloydWing’s thoughts:  Hang on just one more turn.  It’s never been a question of the umbrella collapsing, it’s a question of how slowly it collapses.

Nephew #4 thoughts:  1’s and 2’s don’t win a war.

On this day…

  • 2007: AVL – End of Game — The city defenses of Kharkov were never touched as the exterior defenders could not be moved.  A last ditch attempt [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 7 — Donets River near Kharkov starting to be crossed by Russians, though stiff German resistance is present.  Russians near the southern [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 6 — Kharkov has been fortified, appears tight though battle will surely follow along the river.  Southern Donets River defenses are holding [...]
  • 2005: Things — I finally got around to seeing Serenity last night and all I can say is “WOW”. I really enjoyed [...]

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AVL – End of Turn 7

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Donets River near Kharkov starting to be crossed by Russians, though stiff German resistance is present.  Russians near the southern Donets River have grown frustrated at repeatedly being thrown back and have started to try an end around.  Middle has surprisingly been static but still mushy.

VPs: German 25 Russian 9

FloydWing’s thoughts:  I think I can.  I think I can.

Nephew #4’s thoughts:  The situation is bleak.  Turn 8 needs to see a massive thrust forward into Kharkov so I can attack on the last turn.  Rostov looks out of reach.

On this day…

  • 2007: AVL – End of Game — The city defenses of Kharkov were never touched as the exterior defenders could not be moved.  A last ditch attempt [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 8 — A lot of grinding of armies near Kharkov.  Lines starting to be stretched the length of the map.  A full [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 6 — Kharkov has been fortified, appears tight though battle will surely follow along the river.  Southern Donets River defenses are holding [...]
  • 2005: Things — I finally got around to seeing Serenity last night and all I can say is “WOW”. I really enjoyed [...]

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Posted in Gaming | No Comments »

AVL – End of Turn 6

Friday, December 28th, 2007

Kharkov has been fortified, appears tight though battle will surely follow along the river.  Southern Donets River defenses are holding and appear strong, though cracks are forming.  Middle area presents the most interesting positions, somewhat mushy, something will surely happen here.

VPs: German 25 Russian 6

FloydWing’s thoughts:  Love the Manstein chits!  They are proving very valuable, especially when they come out during the last two moves of the turn to allow me to reposition my defenses.   Unless I ever destroy any mechanized Russians, I can’t afford to lose more than one Victory City.

Nephew #4’s thoughts:  First mistake of the turn was putting a wrong command chit in the mix, but it turned out decent.  The next turn will be critical for determining whether I’ll have a chance at Rostov or Kharkov.

On this day…

  • 2007: AVL – End of Game — The city defenses of Kharkov were never touched as the exterior defenders could not be moved.  A last ditch attempt [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 8 — A lot of grinding of armies near Kharkov.  Lines starting to be stretched the length of the map.  A full [...]
  • 2007: AVL – End of Turn 7 — Donets River near Kharkov starting to be crossed by Russians, though stiff German resistance is present.  Russians near the southern [...]
  • 2005: Things — I finally got around to seeing Serenity last night and all I can say is “WOW”. I really enjoyed [...]

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »